Braden Ursa
Experience
Exodus
Level Designer
Jan 2026 - Present
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Iterated on combat encounter spaces to balance player challenge with locked in environments.
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Populated main city hub with animated vignettes to tell small scale stories in a living world.
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Scripted animated camera sequences and AI interactions with the player at key vista moments.
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Communicated across disciplines to pitch new ideas for spaces I had ownership of and resolved discovered issues.
Waxheart
Level Designer
Aug 2024 - Present
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Implemented environmental storytelling within a space to help support the game narrative.
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Created puzzle designs that challenged players with more difficult gameplay which requires players to think laterally.
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Designed levels that combined platforming and puzzle gameplay with a focus on player flow.
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Led a collaborative effort to establish best practices for design documentation and standard level design work flow.
Murder She Grow't
Associate Designer
Oct 2023 - Aug 2024
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Developed content for a narrative game, aligned with team goals including dialogue and activities that supported the overall story.
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Designed standalone minigames, focused on supporting the existing pillars and narrative.
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Collaborated across disciplines to ensure that work was within the schedule and scope for a small team.
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Created technical documentation for systems and mechanics to pitch new gameplay and iterate on existing designs.
Education
SMU Guildhall
Masters in Interactive Technology
Aug 2021 - May 2023
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Level Design specialization
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Game Designer lead role in Capstone project
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Thesis in Best Practices for Affecting Game Feel
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GDC Narrative Review 2023 Gold winner
The Evergreen State College
Bachelors of Arts
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Majored in mathematics and computer sciences
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Graduated early based on academic excellence
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Minored in Psychology and History
Sept 2012 - May 2015
Skills
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Level Design
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Encounter Design
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Narrative Design
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Dialogue Writing
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World Building
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Design Documentation
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Agile Development
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C#, Visual Scripting, and Lua
Software
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Unreal 4 & 5
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Unity
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Creation Kit
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Perforce/Helix
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Jira
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Inkscape
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GitHub
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Confluence
Hobbies
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Movies
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Reading
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Model Building (Gunpla)
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Cooking
Currently Playing
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Metro: Exodus
- Reanimal
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Motorslice